Oxycotin
by Gwenledyr Brandybuck
Summary: Hodges and Morgan spend time working on their friendship, and discover the true science behind respect, appreciation, and the unthinkable: falling for your best friend.
1. Chapter One: Trace

A quiet night shift in Crime Scene Investigation had half on the team sent home, with only a few active CSIs left to wander the dim and somber halls.

Morgan Brody made her way through the heart of the lab, and strolled past DNA, turning the corner, and picked up on music on full blast from the trace lab.

"_Miracles would have to save  
Those that the beast is looking for  
Listen in awe and you'll hear him.._"

She stopped and popped her head through the door,

_"Bark at the moon-"_

Hodges stopped the music when he spotted her.  
"Hey!" He stopped awkwardly. "Uh, didja need something?"  
Morgan, taking that as an invitation, walked into the lab and over to where the lab tech was standing, fiddling with his radio dials.  
"Yep, did you get the trace from the Bradley's curtains?"  
Hodges looked up and to the left, blue eyes glinting under the artificial flourescent lights.  
"Yyyyes," He drew the word out, searching his brain for the information. "Yeah, Finn's curtains, right?"  
Morgan nodded.  
"Yeah, let's see," He shuffled through some files on his desk and located the right one, opening it, eyeballing it, and then handing it to Morgan. "I found traces of heobromine, caffeine, and Phenylethylamine. Interesting fact about that particular combination of chemicals; they increase blood pressure, heart rate, and stimulate the nervous system. Adding to that, a sharp increase of oxytocin copies the body's natural recipe for romance, which is commonly marketed aaaass-"  
Morgan raised her eyebrows and held up a finger.  
"Are you talking about chocolate?"  
Hodges smiled triumphantly and put his gloved hands up.  
"You got it." He turned his music back on to a quiet roar. Ozzy was over, now it was ACDC.  
"Huh. You know, the boyfriend works at a candy store, the chocolate could be transfer from him."  
Hodges nodded slowly, carefully walking past Morgan to fiddle with the GC-MS machine.  
"Seems plausible." He stopped and turned around. "Hey Morgan?"  
"Hm. Uh, yeah?" She looked up, curls spilling over her shoulders with the movement. Hodges swallowed nervously.  
"Well, our shift is almost over, so I was thinking... You want to go get coffee at the diner before heading back? I know you're pretty new to Vegas, so I thought checking out the diner might be... cool. It's right up the street, it wouldn't be too much of a, ah, detour." He chewed the inside of his cheek and refocused past Morgan, then back to her and shrugged. "If you wanted to."  
"Coffee? At five am?" Morgan shifted her balance to the opposite foot and placed the folder under her arm.  
"Well," Hodges scratched the back of his neck. "I have to do about two hours of reports at home before I can knock off anyway, so I always get one anyway..." He trailed off and smiled hopefully.  
Morgan smirked, and then shrugged.  
"Sure, sounds fun. I just have to get this report back to Finn. Walk with me?"


	2. Chapter Two: Sounds of Vegas

Morgan and Hodges strolled down the hallway past all of the labs, and chattered quietly. They reached Finley's office and Hodges stopped walking. Morgan turned to face him and smiled, backing into the office.  
"I'll uh, I'll just be a sec. Don't go anywhere."  
"You got it." Hodge's blue eyes sparkled under the influence of a subtle smile.  
Morgan opened the door and turned to face Finn.  
"Hey Brody, whatcha got for me?" The older woman smiled, putting down the clipboard she had been examining.  
"Trace from the curtains. Apparently, it's chocolate.  
"Ooh," Finn took the folder, interest aroused. "You think it's from the boyfriend?"  
"That would be my best guess. We'll have to get samples from the store to compare it, but I'm guessing Hodges is gonna have an easy time matching this one up. Should be cut and dry from here."  
Finn nodded absentmindedly, flipping through the folder, then suddenly stopped. A mischievious grin danced onto her face.  
"Hodges, hey, what about that guy? Your Jimmy Stewart. How's that going?"  
Morgan blushed.  
"Ha, actually, we're on our way out to get coffee- strictly as friends, mind you." She held up a hand as if to repel any remarks from the other CSI. "Friends and nothing more. Ever. At all."  
Finley didn't look especially convinced.  
"Alrighty then. Coffee. Have fun with that." She winked at Morgan, who just shook her head and left the office, gently closing the door behind her.  
She turned back around to find Hodges leaning against the wall, smiling expectantly.  
"You all set?" He offered a hand.  
_This is too weird. _Morgan thought, feeling the blood rush to her cheeks again._  
_ "Yeah. Let's go." She smiled and walked past him, ignoring the offered up appendage.  
Hodges shrugged it off and followed her out through the front door. They walked down the cement stairs and crossed the parking lot, under the yellow-washed light of the murky street lamps.  
"Want a ride, by any chance?"  
Morgan looked up to see Hodges gesturing toward a fairly old, but well preserved Ford.  
"Sure, that'll work."  
She followed him over to the car, and got in. After starting the car, they sat quietly, waiting for the engine to warm up.  
The sounds of Vegas resonated, even inside the sealed car. Ambulances wailed, people shouted, dogs barked, and somewhere a panicky-sounding car alarm was waking up a whole neighborhood. But the CSIs didn't mind.  
Morgan grew up in Los Angeles, so these were the sounds of home to her. And Hodges, being a Las Vegas native, learned from an early age to filter out any noise that wasn't the sound of a woman's voice, or a classic medley or rock song.  
When the engine temperature was at a reasonable enough level to drive, Hodges put the car in gear and pulled out of the station lot, and the two headed down to the diner at the end of the street.


	3. Chapter Three: Tomatoes

**A/N:  
****Wow, so many fantastic reviews- on the first day of publishing! You guys are fantastic, I write for my own sadistic purposes but I post for you. Thank you so much, and I hope to have several more chapters done before next week.  
****R&R!**

They drove down the empty, dim lit street with only idle conversation. Hodges had turned the radio on to the rock station he had going in his lab, so Styx droned on at a low volume while they made small talk.  
"So, Morgan," Hodges started, keeping his eyes glued on the road.  
"Yeah?" She glanced up from her phone.  
"You have any plans this weekend, after work?"  
"Uh-"  
Hodges held up a hand quickly, eyes still focused out the windshield, and smiled.  
"Don't worry, this isn't a date thing. Henry, Mandy and I were going to the range to brush up and I thought you might like to join."  
Morgan shurgged and leaned back in her seat.  
"Sounds fun. Do you guys normally go shooting in your free time...?"  
Hodges made a face.  
"Nah, Henry just thinks we should be completely up-to-date on our firearm handling skills in case they're ever called upon. I think he's going through a phase."  
Morgan grinned and looked out her window.  
After a few more minutes of driving in comfortable silence, Hodges slowed down and put his left turn signal on. They turned into the parking lot of a shabby, but cozy-looking 24-hour diner.  
After parking, the two climbed out of the tiny Ford and walked up to the diner entrance.  
Hodges pulled the glass door open and stepped aside, gesturing.  
"Ladies first," He smiled complacently. Morgan took it in stride, and walked into the homey diner, taking her time to look around at the interior.  
Hodges walked in behind her and crossed his arms in satisfaction.  
"Not bad, right"  
"It's..." Morgan thought for a moment, then looked at him. "Cute."  
"Hm?" Hodges had been temporarily distracted, examining the jukebox. "Oh yeah, it's a kicker. I love this place. Come here almost every night."  
"So you said." She nodded slowly, then clapped her hands together. "So! Where are we sitting?"  
"Ah, right. This way," Hodges awkwardly gestured toward a booth near the neon _OPEN _sign flashing in the window. They sat down across from each other, and a pretty waitress with her hair in a bun came over and offered them coffee. They eagerly accepted, ordered some food, and then when the waitress left resumed their conversation from earlier on.  
"So. Henry's getting more into the action-y part of CSI now, huh?"  
"Yeah, it's weird," Hodges put his elbows on the table. "He's always been kinda... quiet, you know? Ever since W-" He stopped talking and leaned back. "Ever since one of our co-workers left the lab rat scene to go be a _real _CSI, he's been coming out of his shell a lot more."  
"Which co-worker is that?" Morgan knew that Greg Sanders used to be a tech geek, but had graduated to full CSI. But she got the feeling he was talking about someone else.  
"A very old, very close... friend." Hodges looked down at the table and scratched some crud off of it. "Old news. Old business."  
Morgan tilted her head in curiosity, but decided to hold off on asking more. Somehow, she figured she wouldn't like digging up old CSI dirt.  
They sat under the neon lights sipping their coffee until a different waitress came back with their food.  
"Okay, I have a caesar salad..."  
Hodges raised his hand, earning an incredulous smile from Morgan.  
"Dude, it's five in the morning and you're having a_ salad_?"  
He shifted uncomfortably as the waitress put his food down.  
"I don't want an upset stomach before I go to sleep!"  
She had always wondered how he looked like a beanpole at his age; now she knew. Morgan rolled her eyes.  
"That makes the BLT and waffle fries yours- right hon?"  
"Yes ma'am." She smiled politely.  
"You two enjoy." The waitress winked at Hodges and walked off, empty tray at her side.  
Hodges cocked his head in confusion, and opened his mouth as if to speak. Then he looked at Morgan.  
"What just...?"  
She shrugged and took a huge bite out of her BLT.  
Hodges looked appalled, but just shook his head and started in on his salad, pushing all of the cherry tomatoes off to the side.  
After chewing and swallowing, Morgan quirked an eyebrow.  
"Why do you do that?"  
"Do what?" Hodges looked up with half a mouthful of food.  
"Not eat the tomatoes."  
"I'm saving them for last. Tomatoes are my favorite."  
"Really?" Half a smile slipped onto Morgan's mouth. "Mine too."  
Hodges gave her a shy smile, then turned his attention back to his food.  
Suddenly, Morgan's brain kicked into high gear.  
_What is going on? _She studied a waffle fry and slowly ate it, thinking at herself in confusion. _Why are you talking about tomatoes with David Hodges at five o' clock in the morning? Worst of all _She pondered, studying his face while his attention was on his salad. _Why is this exactly what you want to be doing right now?_  
Hodges caught her eye and smiled absentmindedly.  
"Why the serious face?"  
"Huh? Oh, sorry." Morgan took a bite of food. "I was just thinking."  
"About?" Hodges folded his hands under his chin, still chewing a bit.  
"Nothing," She took a drink of coffee and smiled. "Just thinking."


	4. Chapter Four: Coffee

David Hodges and Morgan Brody chatted for half an hour under the flickering neon lights of a 24-hour roadside diner.  
Long after the food was gone, the two sipped through mug after mug of coffee, making small talk about work, soft office gossip and so on and so forth.  
Finally, Morgan stole a look at her watch and sighed.  
"Well, old buddy," Hodges raised an eyebrow at the words. "I should probably be heading home for some beauty sleep."  
"Yeah, me too. I need it." This elicited a grin from Morgan, which Hodges replied to with a hint of a smile. "What time is it anyway?"  
"6:00."  
"Jesus." Hodges chugged his coffee, set the mug on the table, and flagged down the waitress.  
"Yeah, you've got your paperwork, I've got cats to feed..." Morgan trailed off, picking up her purse and rifling through it for a moment. Meanwhile, the waitress came over and set their check on the table, giving Hodges another salacious look, and walking off toward the kitchen.  
He just shook his head and picked up the check.  
He reached into his pocket, pulled a 20$ out of his wallet, and tossed it down with the check.  
"You ready?"  
"Yeah just let me-" Morgan looked up and saw the money and the check. "Oh, no way. You are so not paying for my food."  
"Too late." He smiled and gestured his head toward the door. "Did you wanna go get your car or what?"  
"Hodges, you better know this wasn't a date."  
"Of course."  
"And I'm getting the check next time."  
"You bet. We'll go to Red Lobster. That'll beat out the six bucks spent on waffle fries and a BLT. Now let's go!"  
Morgan tossed her head and laughed, blonde curls bouncing over her shoulder again.  
"You're something else, David Hodges."  
He shrugged in concession, smile returning. She slid out of the booth and followed him through to the diner's doors, bell ringing on their way out.

They both happily jumped into the little Ford and sped off back toward CSI down the road. They pulled into the parking lot, up next to Morgan's SUV, and Hodges killed the ignition.  
"Well. Hope you, ah, had fun." Hodges scratched at the steering wheel, a pleasant smile planted on his face.  
"You know," Morgan unbuckled and turned to face him. "I really did. I thought it'd be awkward, after everything." She paused, and Hodges glanced up. She smiled. "But it really wasn't. We should do this again some time."  
"Yeah! Totally! Er, ah," Hodges toned down his grin a bit. "If you're ever up for coffee again. You know. Graveyard shift and all."  
"Totally." Morgan laughed, sparkling eyes not going unnoticed.  
Hodges swallowed again.  
"Well, ah, guess you should be getting home, huh?"  
"Guess I should." The more nervous he got, the bigger Morgan grinned. But she knew torturing him infinitely wasn't fair. And, honestly, she was pretty tired.  
"Okay, okay, I'm going." She opened the door and, once again, climbed out of the unusually short car.  
"Hey, ah," Hodges popped out of his door when she did, keys in his hand.  
"Yes?" Morgan crossed her arms on top of the car, chin on her hands.  
Hodges mirrored the position, blue eyes earnest.  
"Where are we, Brody?"  
She raised an eyebrow.  
"What do you mean?"  
He shrugged.  
"You know. Are we... okay?" His gray-speckled eyebrows went up. "Are we friends?"  
Another pearly smile split Morgan's face and she laughed, shaking her head.  
"Hodges! Hodges Hodges, David Hodges." She walked around the front of the car and, to his astonishment, threw her arms around the much taller man.  
"Uh...?" He awkwardly hugged her back, and then she let go.  
"Of course we're friends. You're, well, probably one of my best friends." She looked at the ground and chewed her lip. His eyebrows went up again.  
"Me?"  
"Yeah. You. I feel like I can trust you. You're patient and caring and..." She trailed off, blushing. "You probably don't need to hear all that gushy girl stuff." She gently slugged his arm. "We're good, Hodges. We're good."  
Hodges whole body was warm; whether it was a physiological reaction to the hug, or an emotional reaction to the words- and the hug- he couldn't say. So he just smiled like a schoolboy and shurgged again, abash.  
"Alright," Morgan rocked on her heels. "I should probably go home tonight. Sleep deprivation is obviously getting me whacky." She smiled and patted Hodges on the arm.  
"I'll see you tomorrow, yeah?"  
"Yes ma'am, graveyard shift." Hodges smiled up as she unlocked her SUV and jumped in.  
"Graveyard shift!" She stood up on the step bar and gave him a thumbs up.  
"See ya, Brody." He waved awkwardly, and caught his breath a little when Morgan winked.  
"See ya Hodges!"  
She started the car and left the lot. Hodges got back in his car, started it, and took a deep breath.  
He put his hands on top of the steering wheel for a moment and sighed, a smile creeping back onto his face.  
_See you tomorrow, Brody._


	5. Chapter Five: I'll Bite

**THE FOLLOWING EVENING**

**...**

Greg Sanders stretched and yawned, making his way down the quiet halls of the CSI lab. He passed trace, waved to Henry, Bobby, Mandy and Hodges, and stepped out the front doors of the CSI building.  
He nearly ran into Morgan, in her rush, and she came close to spilling the giant yellow file she supported with crossed arms.  
"Morgan! Sorry, I didn't see you. You okay?"  
"Oh yeah, sorry. Late case files for the Bradley case. Finley needed them in ASAP, and I spent all day sorting through them."  
"Be... fore you came to work?" Greg raised an eyebrow at her. "Where you're supposed to do all your work?"  
"It was my fault they're late, not like I got much sleep anyway."  
"Man, this graveyard shift thing must be a thorn in your paw, huh?"  
Morgan shrugged and smiled.  
"It's not all bad. The cool kids party when you bad boys go home." She grinned, and Greg chuckled.  
"Yeah, I guess you guys are the cool kids now." He sighed. "You know, I almost miss being a lab tech. Long nights, in a quiet lab, doing your work in peace... It was nice."  
Morgan rolled her eyes.  
"Whatever, you love playing with the big kids." She shoved him gently, supporting the file with her other arm. "Now get home, you worked hard all day, Mr. CSI."  
Greg chuckled again and nodded.  
"Yeah, I am pretty worked out. I'll see you tomorrow?"  
"Probably." She said off-handedly, then snapped back. "Oh wait, no, tomorrow's Saturday."  
"Yeah?"  
"I'm going shooting with the rats. Sorry."  
"Aw, harsh blow, Brody." Greg grinned and shook his head. "Well, you guys have fun with that. I'll catch you on Monday."  
"Yep, daylight! Later Sanders." Morgan smiled, watching him stride off to the parking lot, then turned and entered CSI.

/

Morgan lugged the file folder through the lobby and back to CSI Finley's office, setting it down on the desk with a definitive _**CLUNK.**_**  
**Finn looked up, eyebrows raised and a smile tugging at her lips.  
"Is that the Bradley evidence?"  
"Yes. Yes it is."  
"Woooow." She smiled and stood up. "Were you up all day working on this?"  
"Only since like, six." It was midnight now.  
"I'm impressed, Morgan. But you didn't have to do all this."  
"Please, I wasn't sleeping anyway."  
Finn smiled and shook her head.  
"Alright Morgan. Take it easy. I'll see you at the end of your shift."  
Morgan smiled and walked out of the office, heading to ballistics. She flounced around a corner into the lab, a cheery smile on her face.  
"Give me some good news, Bobby."  
The tech looked up and cracked a grin when he saw her, and pulled off his noise-cancelling earphones.  
"Hey Miss Brody! I've got your results, riiight," He pulled a folder out of a pile on his messy workspace and handed it to her. "Here. .38 special, GSR doesn' match the trace though."  
"Of course it doesn't." Morgan rubbed her temples. "Same- rare- calibur, but different gun. Lovely. Thanks anyway, Bobby."  
The gun tech looked a little crestfallen, but smiled anyway.  
"No problem, Miss Brody."  
A vibe of severe irritation encasing her, Morgan stalked back down the hallway of CSI laboratories and into the trace lab.  
"Hodges." She snarked, walking around the corner.  
"Um, hello to you too, Morgan?" Hodges spun around on his stool, a vial of brown liquid in each hand, safety goggles on. "How was your day? Mine was fantastic. I did this thing called _sleeping._"  
"Sorry. Hi." Morgan uncrossed her arms and slouched. "Long day. Not much sleeping. Aaaas, you apparently know." She raised an eyebrow.  
Hodges nodded, standing up to drop the vials into the GCMS. After turning it on, he removed his goggles and gloves, and offered Morgan an office chair.  
She plopped down in it.  
"Thanks."  
Hodges flashed a temporary smile and then returned to his seat on the stool.  
"Okay. Morgan. Along with severely increased melatonin levels from the sun going down, low endorphins from sleep deprivation, and a bad attutude-" Morgan shot him a look. Hodges shrugged. "Just being honest! Look- aside from all that... how much do you want to bet that your blood to glucose ratio is extremely low?"  
At the very words, Morgan's stomach whined in agreement.  
"I hate saying this, but I think you're right. I haven't eaten in hours."  
Hodges stood up, smirked, and offered Morgan his arm. She looked at him out of the tops of her eyes, but, reluctantly, took his arm, and the two walked out of the trace lab together.

/

They strode into the break room, arm in arm, and earned a funny look from Henry. They unhooked, and Hodges bent over the minifridge while Morgan carefully examined the vending machine, looking for something that wasn't total shit.  
"Hey, Brody." She looked up, and Hodges was holding some tupperware he'd pulled out of the fridge. "Forget that junk, I brought something."  
"Oookay, I'll bite." _Literally? _Morgan grinned at the internalized stupid joke and sat down across from Hodges at the table. "So what'd you bring?"  
"Romas, cherry, green, stuffed, and non-GMO." He pulled the tupperware lid off with a flourish, and inside were every kind of tomato Morgan could think to eat.  
"What. The hell." She stared for a moment, then looked up at Hodges. "Dude."  
He just grinned, grabbed a cherry tomato, and popped it in his mouth.  
"Better take your pick before I eat them all."  
Slowly, a smile crept onto Morgan's face, and she grabbed a Roma, destroying half of it in one bite.  
"Like you could stop me!"


End file.
